It Only Takes One Parent to Get All The Graphic Novels Removed From a School Library

[fooferdoggie]

A parent in Owasso, Oklahoma is “pretty happy” with his daughter’s school district's decision to recall upwards of 3,000 graphic novels from its library system after taking issue with one title his daughter checked out from the school library over the summer.
It led to the Owasso School Board recently approving a new policy which requires every page of every graphic novel in the library to be screened for “potential material involving sexually explicit content and extreme vulgarity.”

It Only Takes One Parent to Get All The Graphic Novels Removed From a School Library

A school district in Oklahoma removed 3,000 titles after an angry parent complained about ‘pornography.’

www.vice.com

 

[rdrr]

A parent in Owasso, Oklahoma is “pretty happy” with his daughter’s school district's decision to recall upwards of 3,000 graphic novels from its library system after taking issue with one title his daughter checked out from the school library over the summer.
It led to the Owasso School Board recently approving a new policy which requires every page of every graphic novel in the library to be screened for “potential material involving sexually explicit content and extreme vulgarity.”

It Only Takes One Parent to Get All The Graphic Novels Removed From a School Library

A school district in Oklahoma removed 3,000 titles after an angry parent complained about ‘pornography.’

www.vice.com

Not surprising, coming from parents (from the Southern states especially) today... My soon to be step daughter had a mucky-muck job at a publishing company which had Texas School system as a client for textbooks. They were forced to remove sections of homosexuality education as well as blur out certain parts of the male and female anatomy in science books. Mind you these sections are approved by and taught in other states school boards. She couldn't take it anymore and resigned her position without another job lined up.

 

[Chew Toy McCoy]

Remember back when we thought special snowflakes and helicopter parents were the worst thing ever? Those were the days.

 

[fooferdoggie]

I guess this woman has never heard of the internet.

 

[Herdfan]

A parent in Owasso, Oklahoma is “pretty happy” with his daughter’s school district's decision to recall upwards of 3,000 graphic novels from its library system after taking issue with one title his daughter checked out from the school library over the summer.
It led to the Owasso School Board recently approving a new policy which requires every page of every graphic novel in the library to be screened for “potential material involving sexually explicit content and extreme vulgarity.”

Sadly she will probably get knocked up her first semester of college.

 

[rdrr]

Sadly she will probably get knocked up her first semester of college.

That is a giant leap to go from having a helicopter parent on steroids, to a hook up pregnancy. In my experience when a young individual rebels from their over protective parents, they tend to cut them off of information (grades for instance) and control rather than going out and causing a pregnancy.

 

[AG_PhamD]

I’m totally against censoring books but I think there can be an argument some books may not be age appropriate. I sense that’s probably not the case here. If it’s a book about coming of age I’m assuming we’re talking high school. And why are books with drawings of things sexual in nature different than books that write about it?

Sexuality is part of life and removing it from the library isn’t going to protect your child from hearing about it or their own sexual development, curiosities, interests, etc.

 

[rdrr]

I’m totally against censoring books but I think there can be an argument some books may not be age appropriate. I sense that’s probably not the case here. If it’s a book about coming of age I’m assuming we’re talking high school. And why are books with drawings of things sexual in nature different than books that write about it?

Sexuality is part of life and removing it from the library isn’t going to protect your child from hearing about it or their own sexual development, curiosities, interests, etc.

Ah, but who gets to approve what is age appropriate? Helicopter parents on any side of the isle can be a little... crazy.

 

[AG_PhamD]

Ah, but who gets to approve what is age appropriate? Helicopter parents on any side of the isle can be a little... crazy.

Publishers sometimes have age/grade appropriateness ratings based lexile measure and content. Similar to how movies have a ratings system based on certain criteria but is not universal or formalized or required with books. I would think publishers are the ones that often determine what books are marketed to school libraries.

I think most would agree Fifty Shades of Grey probably isn’t appropriate to be in a school library or for younger children being an extremely sexual book involving themes of sexual abuse. In the same way you wouldn’t have explicit porn available to kids. That’s not to say kids should’t be able to read FSG, a 16-17 year olds I don’t really see a problem for most, younger kids there should probably be some discretion or counseling, 12 and under is probably not appropriate.

But just because a book mentions sex in the story line of “coming of age” doesn’t sound age inappropriate for high schoolers. Sexuality is part of coming of age and relevant to children that age as it’s something they are/will experiencing.

The reason why young children typically are not exposed to highly sexual, non-educational content like FSG is because most probably don’t have a good grasp on sex and sexual relationships. Many do not have the capacity yet to discern what is realistic and what is fantasy. Early exposure to sex is a book about BDSM and abuse, it may create false expectations about what sex is. It’s well known children exposed to explicitly pornographic material are at risk of developing mental health problems including anxiety and sex addiction, having intimate relationships negatively affected, committing sexual violence and abuse, sexism / objectification, etc due to how sex is often portrayed in such content.

That said, a universal ban of any sexually-related content however is ridiculous. There are books that can talk about sex in an age appropriate manner. It can in fact be valuable information for kids to understand their own sexuality and the nature of appropriate sexual relationships.

 

[rdrr]

Publishers sometimes have age/grade appropriateness ratings based lexile measure and content. Similar to how movies have a ratings system based on certain criteria but is not universal or formalized or required with books. I would think publishers are the ones that often determine what books are marketed to school libraries.

I think most would agree Fifty Shades of Grey probably isn’t appropriate to be in a school library or for younger children being an extremely sexual book involving themes of sexual abuse. In the same way you wouldn’t have explicit porn available to kids. That’s not to say kids should’t be able to read FSG, a 16-17 year olds I don’t really see a problem for most, younger kids there should probably be some discretion or counseling, 12 and under is probably not appropriate.

But just because a book mentions sex in the story line of “coming of age” doesn’t sound age inappropriate for high schoolers. Sexuality is part of coming of age and relevant to children that age as it’s something they are/will experiencing.

The reason why young children typically are not exposed to highly sexual, non-educational content like FSG is because most probably don’t have a good grasp on sex and sexual relationships. Many do not have the capacity yet to discern what is realistic and what is fantasy. Early exposure to sex is a book about BDSM and abuse, it may create false expectations about what sex is. It’s well known children exposed to explicitly pornographic material are at risk of developing mental health problems including anxiety and sex addiction, having intimate relationships negatively affected, committing sexual violence and abuse, sexism / objectification, etc due to how sex is often portrayed in such content.

That said, a universal ban of any sexually-related content however is ridiculous. There are books that can talk about sex in an age appropriate manner. It can in fact be valuable information for kids to understand their own sexuality and the nature of appropriate sexual relationships.

Agreed fifty shade of grey isn’t something age appropriate, but that isn’t what this about. Not sure if you are intentionally trying to muddy the waters here with an extreme example.

The original thread was with a parent finding it objectionable for their child and their obscenity standards of a graphical novel. I cited an example of a state banning anatomy of science textbook. No one was talking about FSG which i think we can all agree shouldn’t be in any school library and is a poorly written book that was over-hyped by the salacious nature of the topic.

 

[Herdfan]

Agreed fifty shade of grey isn’t something age appropriate, but that isn’t what this about.

What about this for 12 year olds?

[Moderator]
Image removed.

Edit: I apologize for posting that image for anyone who saw it. But that is one of the books being argued about being appropriate for middle school libraries.

 

[rdrr]

What about this for 12 year olds?

Removed omage, fot poor taste

Ummm really? WTH is wrong with you?

 

[Herdfan]

Ummm really? WTH is wrong with you?

Because that is from a book meant for 12 year olds. Still think something is wrong with me? If you as an adult are offended, is it really appropriate for a middle school library?

 

[rdrr]

Because that is from a book meant for 12 year olds. Still think something is wrong with me? If you as an adult are offended, is it really appropriate for a middle school library?

I am offended because if you wanted to make your point you could have just described it maybe even put a link to where I can find the booklet, no need to actually put the actual image on here. Think what you want, but I actually do double check your facts, sometimes you are right, and sometimes I cannot verify the claim. Based on what side you are influenced by, I have to assume it is a slanted view. Now as to you... I really am not a "fan" of the Herdfan, but I do give people the benefit of the doubt and think that folks are actually nice when you get to know them. I think you were well out of line with that response, but I will research what you posted,

 

[AG_PhamD]

Agreed fifty shade of grey isn’t something age appropriate, but that isn’t what this about. Not sure if you are intentionally trying to muddy the waters here with an extreme example.

The original thread was with a parent finding it objectionable for their child and their obscenity standards of a graphical novel. I cited an example of a state banning anatomy of science textbook. No one was talking about FSG which i think we can all agree shouldn’t be in any school library and is a poorly written book that was over-hyped by the salacious nature of the topic.

I thought I was pretty clear but I believe we’re on the same page. I mentioned FSG only to say there are examples of age inappropriate books for schools.

Removing biology textbooks is beyond insane. They are explicitly scientific material.

Sometimes I wonder if these religious zealots are trying to just keep their kids completely in the dark about anything related to sex, reproductive anatomy, or human sexuality thinking it will somehow fight biology, preventing teenagers from having sexual thoughts, feelings, and impulses. I’m surprised they’re not the ones advocating giving hormone blockers to their children.

 

[mac_in_tosh]

Sadly she will probably get knocked up her first semester of college.

Based on admittedly limited experience of my neighbors, there may be something to this. It could happen either out of rebellion against an overly strict upbringing or just ignorance of the facts of life.

 

[mac_in_tosh]

It's always intrigued me how some religious types will contend that people were created in the image of their deity yet they consider it indecent to in some cases even talk about the body that was created.

 

[rdrr]

I thought I was pretty clear but I believe we’re on the same page. I mentioned FSG only to say there are examples of age inappropriate books for schools.

Removing biology textbooks is beyond insane. They are explicitly scientific material.

Sometimes I wonder if these religious zealots are trying to just keep their kids completely in the dark about anything related to sex, reproductive anatomy, or human sexuality thinking it will somehow fight biology, preventing teenagers from having sexual thoughts, feelings, and impulses. I’m surprised they’re not the ones advocating giving hormone blockers to their children.

Oh we are probably on the same page, I just have dropped this since my blood started to boil over this. Admittedly @Herdfan got to me, and yes the claims of that example page of an illustrated book were indeed in a high school, which I find that the illustration took away from the point of the book. However I didn't want to go into the claims of "this was available for 12 year olds," which I cannot find an instance of. Even the author of the book states that the age intended was for high school age and above. So I didn't want to go down the rabbit hole of the what should be allowed in school libraries, when this was going to turn into an anti-LGBTQ argument by some. I am not saying you in particular would do it, I just didn't want to play the game, where I perceived this thread was going.

Should explicit sexual acts (of any kind) be illustrated in books for any level of school, IMO no. In the original article linked to this thread, the book citied had an anti fundamentalist Christian slant to it, and again IMO that should be allowed.

Oh and @Herdfan, I do apologize for losing my s**t on you. Just next time put a NSFW tag on the image and hide it please. If I click on it then, well... my bad.

 

[Herdfan]

Oh we are probably on the same page, I just have dropped this since my blood started to boil over this. Admittedly @Herdfan got to me, and yes the claims of that example page of an illustrated book were indeed in a high school, which I find that the illustration took away from the point of the book. However I didn't want to go into the claims of "this was available for 12 year olds," which I cannot find an instance of. Even the author of the book states that the age intended was for high school age and above. So I didn't want to go down the rabbit hole of the what should be allowed in school libraries, when this was going to turn into an anti-LGBTQ argument by some. I am not saying you in particular would do it, I just didn't want to play the game, where I perceived this thread was going.

It was also in some middle school libraries. My daughter started MS at 11, so 12 is right there in the MS range.

Oh and @Herdfan, I do apologize for losing my s**t on you. Just next time put a NSFW tag on the image and hide it please. If I click on it then, well... my bad.

No problem. I understand it is shocking so imagine being a parent and seeing that at a school library.

Again, I apologize and will hide it next time.

 

[rdrr]

It was also in some middle school libraries. My daughter started MS at 11, so 12 is right there in the MS range.



No problem. I understand it is shocking so imagine being a parent and seeing that at a school library.

Again, I apologize and will hide it next time.

Yeesh, in your daughters middle school? Yeah that is wrong, but it was never intended to be for that age from what the author said. So someone fell asleep at the wheel there, but I don't agree with the imagery and IMO the image isn't necessary for the need the need of the book and would have felt the same way if it were a straight book. The point is this latest kerfuffle from what the article stated is about an anti-fundamentalist christian coming of age book, not your example from years ago.